Wrench.



G. B. PERKINS.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 21, 1912.

Patented 0013.14, 1913.

Ill

IIIII WITNESS-E8 co.. wAsmN llhllit GEORGE BENJAMIN PERKINS, OF ELVINS, MISSOURI.

VBENCH.

Application filed September 21. l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 1.4, 1913.

Serial No. 721.537.

/'o all 'whom t may concert/a Be it known that l, G-nonon BENJAMIN Pnnnins, a citizen ot the United States ot America, residing at Elvins.y in 'the county of St. Francois and invented certain new and usetul improvements in lllrenches. ot which the following j is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in wrenches and particularly to improvements in pipe-wrenches or wrenches which are adapted and having a cylindrical shape, such as pipes, as well as objects which are faced or are polygonal in cross section, such as an ordinary nut; and an object ot this invention is to provide a wrench the movable jaw ot be quickly adjusted toward and from the stationary jaw and in which the j which may movable jaw will, atter adjustment, remain securely locked in adjusted position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wrench by which the object to be turned may be turned in the same direction without the removal of the wrench.

A third object ot this invention is to provide a wrench in which the working faces ot the 'jaws will be so inclined that, when the movable jaw is adjusted to receive the object to be turned. the the jaws will then grip the object securely and iirinly.

)i tonrth object ot this invention is to provide a wrenclv which may be taken apart and which, in its structure, will embody no bolts, screws or rivets or like fastening devices.

A fifth teature of this invention is the provision in a wrench ot tace-plates tor the working `faces ot the jaws, which plates will be removable and replaceable by other tace-plates having a different and being ot a different hardness orn rial.

ln the drawii'igs .illustratingl ciple ot this invention and the now known to me ot applying matethel prinbest inode that principle, Figure l is a side elevation ot my j partly in section; Fig. 2 is a my new wrench; Fig. a rear view of the same (or a view looking at the back of the wrench) g Fig. l is a detail showing a tace-plate in perspective; and Fig. 5 is an elevation of a modified form in which the jaws are provided with new wrench, front view ot State ot Missouri, have designed to turn objects working faces ot readily tace- Bisv {the tace-plates one of which is shown in j Fig. et. j The wrench is provided with a handle u, j which is formed at one end with a stationt ary jaw Z). in end tace o't the latter is j formed with a centrally-disposed undercut l rib c (Fig. Q) which engages in a correj spondingly shaped groove CZ termed in the back or inner tace of the tace-plate e, the working tace c of which may be serrated, as shown in Fig. l and which may be hardened, as by case-hardening. si screw serves to hold the tace-plate e detachably in place. TWhen the tace-plate c is worn i out, it may quickly be replaced by another, j as will be readily understood. The movable jaw g is formed with a serrated worki ing-tace 7L and a rounded nose fr', the rounding ot which enables the nose i to slip l easily over the sharp corners ot a nut. The j movable jaw g is provided with a bifurcatj ed extension or arm 7' between the branches or forks 7u of which passes the shank a ot the wrench; that is, the shank a passes between and is straddled by the legs 7c. The shank a of the wrench passes also through 1 the central bore or opening a formed in a box-like adjusting-slide m wiich is thus vslidably mounted upon the shank a and from the front end ot the bottom of which j projects a finger 0 formed with a hook y). j ln the latter there is engaged a cross-piece or yoke Q, which is carried by the lower i ends ot the legs of the entension j.

The lower or front edge ot the shank c .is toi-ined with a series of ratchet-like teeth 11,' and the bottoni wall of the opening a in j the box-like slide m is also formed with a series ot ratchet-like teeth 1, which are i adapted to engage the teeth fr of the shank a. rlfhe top-wall ot' the passage n is formed l with a ridge u, as shown in Fig. l, so that the slide m may be tilted up and down about this ridge. The top wall of the passage n 1 is also formed with a recess n. in which engages the inner or lower end ct the curved leaf-spring s, which curves upwardly and outwardly out ot the passage n and is bent. around a cross-rib or bridge-piece z5, which j extends transversely of the back of the slide 7a. The. part N of the bottom wall of the opening n is substantially parallel to lthe lt N oi' the top wall of the same; and

part of the bottom wall ot the opena is substantially parallel to the part N* This leaf-spring s serves to hold the teeth engagement; but the slide m may be readily iliade free, so to be moved to the front by merely pressing down upon the front end of the back of the slide m against the tension of the leaf-spring s. The slide m carries also a curved leaf-spring u, one end of which passes under a cross-pin o and abuts against a rib or ridge e" at the rear end of the back of the slide. The other end of the leaf spring 4u lies in a channel g formed in the top or back of the movable jaw g and bears upon the latter and thereby tends to force the same downwardly in Fig. l.

Face-plates w (Figs. 4L and 5) are provided for use in case it be desired to turn nuts which would be liable to be marred by the serrated faces e, L. The outer or working face w of this face-plate w is plane, while the opposite or inner face thereof is formed with teeth w which are adapted to engage the teeth of the serrated faces e, 7L. This face-plate 1r is provided with a pair of leaf-springs wx which are fastened about midway of the sides of the face-plate and the free ends of which are adapted to engage in recesses or Grooves a formed in the sides of the jaws of the wrench. ln this way the face-plate w may readily be detached from the jaws. Moreover, they may be made of comjniratirely soft material, in order not to mar objects with which they may be engaged.

It is to be observed that the working faces e, b are not exactly parallel, when the jaws are in the full line position of Fig. l; but they are preferably so inclined that, when the movable aw is thrown back so as tofit the nut or pipe, the working faces e, It will then be substantially parallel and the grip thereof on the pipe or nut will be secure and firm.

r in interlocking The operation of my new wrench will now be readily understood and is substantially as follows: W'hen it is desired to adjust the movable jaw, the workman presses upon the back of the slide m against the tension of the curved leaf-spring' s and thereby throws the slide m into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, wherein the teeth r, 9 are thrown out of engagement. Under this pressure the slide m tilts about the ridge n formed in the top wall of the central bore n of the slide m. As the hook 2J of the finger 0 swings downwardly, it carries the lower end of the legs 7c of the movable jaw g' inthe same direction. The operator can now move the latter' forward or backward by moving the slide m forward or backward. rlhe nut or pipe may be turned in the same direction without disengaging the jaws therefrom, by simply oscillating or rocking the handle or shank a back and forth. `When the handle t is moved backward, the movable jaw g yields so as to permit free movement of the wrench; but when the handle a is swung again to the front so as to turn the nut in the direction in which itis desired to turn the same, the jaws clasp the pipe or nut automatically with firmness.

I claim:

A wrench having a. shank formed with a stationary jaw and with ratchet-like teeth on its front; a positioning slide mounted on said shank and formed in its rear with a recess and provided with teeth which normally engage the teeth on the front of said shank; a yielding device one end of which is anchored in said recess and the other end of which is free and is interposed between the rear of the shank and said slide, said device being adapted and arranged to hold the teeth of said slide normally in engagement with the teeth on the front of the shank; a movable aw formed with a recess in its rear and with a bifurcated extension which straddles said shank and is pivotally connected with said slide; and a yielding device which is anchored at one end in the recess formed in said slide and the other free end of which projects into the recess formed in the rear of said movable aw and tends to throw the latter toward the front of the wrench.

Signed at Flat River, Missouri, this eighteenth day of September, A. D. 1912, in the presence of the, two undersigned witnesses.

GEORGE BENJAMIN PERKINS. l/Vitnesses GUS C. SIMON, JOSEPH A. DUNKLIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

